Bathed Constraint
by needle-doll
Summary: .NejiXTenten. Tenten’s life was not easy to begin with. One day she was left alone by both the close and the not so close. She is now an orphan, trying to live a life of a normal girl. It's better then it sounds.


Summary: Tenten's life was not easy to begin with. One day she was left alone by both the close and the not so close. She is now an orphan, trying to live a life of a normal girl.

Prologue: 

Her legs swung back and forth, making the porch creak every time she hit her heel against the step. She giggled at the pain, where it was not something to laugh at. After a few minutes of giggles, she could make out the bruise forming above her heels made by the scraped wood. She frowned and lifted her left foot, placing it in her lap. She looked at if it was alien to her. She flicked her tongue with her thumb and rubbed the drop of blood away. She looked back at her thumb and licked it clean. The metallic taste was not her cup of tea, so she spat the substance out.

She sat back down again, not swinging her legs this time. The creaking concluded. Placing her elbow on her thigh, she leaned her cheek against her right hand and watched the pond in her spacious, but green backyard. The hollowed-out bamboo stick fell each time it was filled by the waterfall, and dropped it in the rest. The cycle continued.

Five minutes passed. Ten minutes passed. Twenty minutes passed. She strolled back and forth on the wooden, almost old porch in a thinking manner. She suddenly stopped midway and ran towards the rice-paper doors. With a swift slide, she snuck in and made her way to the front doors, huffing and puffing with the lack of air. A big smile was occupying her seven-year old face as she turned at the corner. Her tiny legs nearly reached the front door, when it suddenly opened.

She stopped in a hopeful manner. "Tou-san!" she screamed getting ready to hug her father, but what she saw made her face twist.

"May I speak with an adult of this house?" one of the two men spoke. She recognized the animal masks on their faces, as well as the outfits. They were not dangerous men, but she was afraid of them still. Their size was to say the least, frightened her all the more.

One was shorter of the two, who had jaw length jet-black hair and a weapon, almost like a sword slung on his back. The other had long, thin, tanned hair that was tied in a lose pony. Like the other, he also carried a visible weapon on his back.

She gulped, at the same time backed away from the duo. She heard the kitchen door being opened. Her mother stepped out. She approached the door and her face told a sad truth that was about to be spoken; her wrinkles all the more noticeable.

The woman grabbed her thin shoulders and demanded that she was to the table for supper. She wanted to refuse, but she knew it was best not to argue. With slumped shoulders she went into the kitchen and started to get the plates out of the massive cabinets.

Curiosity got the better of her like always. She placed the plates on the counter carefully. Rushing to the door, she slid it about an inch thick which gave her a clear view of the front door.

"Gomen-nasai," the second man spoke gently as he bowed down.

Her mother was grieving, but no tears were evident. "It was bound to happen sooner or later." Her face was straight again, but with her chest-nut hair hiding her face now. "So, are we to leave now?"

"It would be best, but if you like we'll give you the day." They gave her a quite clear option.

Her mother shook her head and told them they will be out in twenty minutes. With that the two men stepped out of the house. Her mother approached the kitchen. She tore her face away from the door and quickly went to grab the plates in fear of getting caught eavesdropping. She put them on the table and turned to her mother. She felt a pang in her heart witnessing her mother's face in such state.

Without another thought she rushed by her mother's side. "Ka-san, what's wrong? Why were those men here? Well? Ka-san!" At her silent cry, her mother went on her knees, holding them with both of her hands, trying to control herself. She felt a tear trickle down her cheek and drop on her dress, making a visible stain.

"Betsu ni," she waved off in a mono-tone, barely making out the words with her lips. She licked her lips. There were obvious signs of faults. "Why don't we pack our bags? We'll go…for a vacation for a while." Her sudden change of tone scared her.

She wiped her tear-streaking face and asked, "what about tou-san? Isn't her coming back?" Her worst fear cannot come true.

"He's going to be…to be out for a while."

"H-hai," she answered sniffling.

* * *

It was a long walk out the town doors and she had a feeling that she was never going to return.

They were leaving. Just like that, without saying goodbye to any of her friends. It was not like she had many friends to begin with, so she considered this a fresh start. Hopeful to see her father wherever they were heading, she agreed.

She realized that her house was empty. What if her father did come back? She was hoping it was not so for she wants to see him. Both her mother and she knew how much her father meant to her. She was missing him like an arm to a torso, but what was she to do?

Juts this morning he stepped out of the house, with a promise smile that he will return and they will go out to train where she will finally learn how to manipulate weapons. She could not wait. Her father had mastered the weaponry and she was next in line. He always complimented her with her use of weapons as simple as a shuriken or a kunai.

But he never kept that promise. He left her. He was the only one who understood her. She thought she knew him too, but she was wrong to think that.

The way he smiled, talked, walked, worked, no one would think badly of him. Then why was he doing this to her? No use gathering up old thoughts for it will never bring him back.

They did not have much to carry, but their clothing and a bite to eat. The men, who had been acquainted earlier, had been nice enough to carry their stuff. A wrap or two of bundles is all they needed.

They had been walking through the dense forest for quite a long time and the only sounds heard were the leaping of the two men over the branches. The woods were almost as good as dead. No living life was heard. It looked as if it was never going to end.

The forest was a chilling place and she was not familiar with half of it. Her small backpack slung over her shoulders was adding to the heavy atmosphere. There was a quiet, eerie silence present. No birds were found singing. Only a sudden snapping of a twig would break the silence once in a while.

When looking ahead, no certain path would appear, but darkness. There was no light, so they had to rely on the two above them. There was no moon that night; only the twinkling of the stars evident in some areas. Her mother beside her was not comforting enough. If asked she would not disagree.

Her little legs were tired, but her mother kept on advising her to move forward. They were almost there, but that was about three hours ago and she could not take the pressure. She suddenly stopped and slumped over, with one hand supported by the tree and the other on her knee. Her breathing was heavy and it seemed as if she could not make it any further. A few coughs were given off and this made her lose her balance and fall face down.

Just as soon as she made contact with the ground, she sat up right. Her face seemed alright except for a few patches of dirt imprinted on her cheeks. She smiled up at her mom's worried face.

From hence forth her mother carried her on her back. She sung few verses of her favorite nursery-rhyme. Slumber claimed her in the minutes following.

The footsteps on the stoned ground woke her up. She smelled noodles in the air, mixed with the scent of freshly picked flowers. She flicked her eyes open to see the change herself. It was morning.

They were in a village. It was familiar in some ways, except this one had more people moving about and they seemed a lot happy. There were a lot of them with a head band that symbolized their village. She did not recognize the symbol, but it was similar to a spiral, but with a leaf shape. It was obvious that this town was one of the few in the fire country where shinobis are brought up. It was amazing to see so many in just one town.

"Ka-san, we're here, right?" she questioned with a grin. She then realized that she was not on her mother's back any more. It was the shorter one of the two who were escorting them. The other one was chatting with a man in a corner shop nearby. "Where is…Ka-san?"

"She…umm…-here." He put her down and took out a note from his breast pocket in his vest. He looked different without his mask on. His chocolate colored eyes reflected the sun and he hand a calming almost peaceful atmosphere about him. She still felt a bit uncomfortable watching him, yet she did not budge.

She took it and read the first words printed on there out loud, "G-gomen." She did not want to read any further. She looked up with a sad face at the man. "Where is she?"

He twitched a little and bit his bottom lip. He finally breathed a sigh and bend down to her eye level, his jaw long dark hair swinging to his cheek. He tried to put on a smile, but failed. This discouraged her more then he thought. "She…left. Let's just say she is not coming back." Her eyes went wide. He grabbed her shoulders in an effort to calm her down. She finally got his message. She began to cry. This was no surprise to him.

He leaned a shoulder for her. He hugged her small frame and let her choke out all the tears. After a few minutes he wiped her tears away. "How about I take you to your new home? But first we'll have to make a quick stop at Hokage-sama's place."

She looked at him confused. What other home does she have? "Hai."

She had a torrent emotions running in her mind. Why was she agreeing to this? Was it because they were bigger then her? Or was it because she was not really happy…with her family? But that's not possible…is it?

This brought her back to the quote her father used to repeat.

'_This mind is a lost cause; you gain, yet you lose.'_

She was not sure what he meant, but she was certain that she will get to know it better. The conflict erupted in her is too much to bear. If she was to forget then she might as well agree for her questions will not be wasted. There will come a time when all will no longer remain a mystery. All she had to do was search.

Unsure of what to expect, she followed the two down the streets. She was sandwiched between the two, but she was not to care for she had more important things to worry about. The people in the busy street were eyeing her as she moved along.

She looked ahead as if they were not even there. Then she noticed four faced carved into the mountain, which were at least a thousand times bigger then her. She measured each one of them with her right thumb. From her position, they seemed about half the size of her thumb. The faces suddenly got bigger with every step. They were apparently approaching the mountain.

They climbed a spiral staircase, which soon led to a pair of wooden doors. There were two large men guarding the doorway. One of them caught her eye. This made her flinch in her skin. She turned away and faced the opening doors and soon entered.

Just as they entered, they were greeted by a very energetic woman who just happened to know the two men. "How's it going you two?" she asked placing both hands on her hips.

"Ah, Anko-san. We just came back from Wave," the taller one answered.

She looked very friendly and at the same time there was something about her that she did not like very much. She had comical, spiky brown hair and a forehead protector like most of them. A long trench coat was covering her fish-netted shirt.

"Is that so?" She continued her chatting with them until something caught her eye. "Who's this?"

"This is-

"What's your name, hun?" She bent down to her level and grinned wide. Her coat bathed the ground a she did so.

"She gets easily distracted, doesn't she?" the shorter one spoke, but Anko pretended not to hear.

She did not reply. She just simply turned away.

"Stubborn are we? Well, it's okay. I'm sure we'll meet again." She turned to face the two and spoke in a jolly tone, "well I'll see you guys at the meeting tonight." With that, she exited.

The walk through the hall was quite long to say the least. Soon, they were greeted into an office large enough to be a small apartment. It was filled largely with books. There was a sofa in the far end and it was quite bright, because of the windows behind the main desk.

She was told to leave while the Hokage and the two men had a chat. She did not complain. She sat in the bench across the door, but like always, she was curious. Slid the door an inch thick and peered through. It was enough to see and hear.

A man with a gray beard and hair was sitting on the desk, writing something that looked like a scroll. The two sat on one knee and bowed their heads. The taller one spoke first, "Hoakge-sama, we've returned."

"Ah, it's good that you made it back." He looked at the taller one. "Akira." He turned to the other. "Koji."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. We have brought the remaining of the Hiroyuki." Koji looked intently ahead.

"Very well," the Hokage dismissed. He picked up his smoke pipe. "Who have you brought?"

"Well the daughter, Hokage-sama, but there is something important you should acknowledge." Akira looked at Koji with an unsure look. Koji gave the go ahead. "She's a result of an illegitimate relationship. She is a half Hiroyuki. Little is known of her real mother, and the wife of Hiroyuki-san passed away just before we entered the village. We have taken care of her funeral needs," he finally finished and let Koji tell the rest.

"The girl, we thought, might have some complication handling this situation so we will not let her attend the funeral, but rather we'll send her straight to the orphanage. In the mean time, we will do a thorough background analysis on her real mother, as well as an in depth report on this case thus far. All this will be in word near the end of next month." His eyes were firm as he gave his report.

"Keep up the good work." The man took a puff out of his pipe and eyed the door, watching the little intruder. _That must be her. _

She had been caught. She saw him smile at her, the wrinkles on his face more evident.

He turned to the two and concluded their meeting. The two stepped out and motioned her to follow. She obeyed their command and made her way out onto the busy streets once more.

They made a quick stop at the village's flower shop. Koji picked out a small but fully bloomed lily from a batch of them and paid for it.

She saw a blond girl about a year younger then her working with the lady. She was laying flowers out and wrapping them back again. Her mother patted her on the back at the great work she did.

It saddened her to see such site. She will never receive any compliments from her mother that way, not that she got any in the first place. Who is to say she gained any?

Once again they were walking and this time not stopping until they reached their desired destination. It was a big, rather beautiful house. There were kids playing here and there with a few adults supervising.

Koji placed a hand on her shoulders. "This'll be your home from now on." He bent down and placed the lily picked out in her ear and whispered, "May you grow up and bloom as this flower."

She blushed at his comment and gave him thumbs up. Just for him, she gave a smile.

"What're whispering to her Koji? I never thought you'd go for the younger ladies," Akira teased.

"Shut up; just giving her something to think about," he said and they were on their way, leaving her at gates.

She watched as they disappeared to nothingness and went straight ahead through the wooden doors. She was greeted by not one but two ladies who escorted her to her new room.

It was a small four by six and it was occupied by a small bed and a side table with a lamp. It was dull and quite clean. The curtains were mere sheers placed over the windows.

She spotted boxes and boxes full of stuff on her bed. She hurried and removed most of the items from them. By now the room was filled with colors. She stopped when she picked a small rag doll. It was her keepsake. She hugged her tight and let her controlled sob come out. It was hard for her. She could have never realized that the disappearance of her dad would lead to so much trouble.

She had no one left.

She was alone.

But she was not afraid. She will not be.

* * *

After she was guided through the lobby, which she did not pay much attention to, she was told to join the rest of the kids outside and play.

She was content but did as she was told to. She walked across not paying particular attention to the kids around her.

She was soon looking through the fence at the people who were walking by and laughing, enjoying themselves with their children. It was a site she was never used to, but hoped she would.

"Hey." She did not hear.

Again. "Hey!" She turned to the side and saw a boy her age on the other side of the fence. She looked behind to make sure he was calling her and apparently he was. She wanted scowl, but nodded instead.

He noticed and came to stand in front of her. "You're new here right?"

"What's it to you?" she answered disapprovingly.

"Just curious." He had placed his hands in his pocket that made him look grown-up.

She looked at him in the eyes and her mouth went a gap. His eyes were…were blank. It was as if he had no color. They were pale, just as his skin. "Your eyes."

"You like them? They run in our family. Everybody has them." He pointed his left index finger at his eyes. "What's with the hair buns? They look ugly."

She touched her hair and knitted her brows. "They're fine! I like them."

He laughed. "You're weird."

She crossed her arms and huffed in the air as if to show she was angry.

He stopped and said, "Sorry I can't stay and argue, but I got to go train. I'll see you here tomorrow, right?"

"Hm."

"That's a yes. Ja ne." He waved her goodbye.

She watched as his long hair floated behind him. He was a handful, she gave him that much. It was sort of nice arguing with him, but now she can look forward to tomorrow.

**A/N:** Thanks for checking out my story. It's my first attempt. I hope you enjoyed it and please tell me what you thought of it and anything I need to improve on. Also, a lot of you may ask that aren't Naruto and Sasuke also orphans and they lived in their own houses? Well, it's my story, so deal with it. This is just the prologue; hopefully the rest will fill in. Please review!


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